Some schools require that students complete projects over the summer. In my personal experience, they have all been teacher-designed, but what if summer projects were mostly student-designed? The more you think about it the more it makes sense. Not only is it more interesting and engaging for students, there is also a compelling scientific foundation for its effects on childrens' learning.

Let's begin with the obvious advantage: students will love it compared to what the teacher assigns, which has pedagogical benefits because students are more ambitious and engaged. This is mostly due to the fact that students can choose the things that better relate to their interests. They become interested in both the project and the relevant part of the curriculum. Applying the information you learned in previous school year is an excellent way to test what you've learned - and applying it to something you genuinely care about is the best test of your understanding. Also, people must be interested in a project before they can be enthusiastic (or willing at the least) to engage with the it, and everyone knows that engagement is a good thing for learning. Students incorporating something into their break makes them even more likely to do it, a fact that has had especially important bearing for me this last year, where it's been challenging to stay on top of the workload. The few times I've taken some days off to relax, I noticed that it was comparatively really difficult to get myself to do stuff when starting again. I feel even more apprehensive if I get out of the habit entirely. It's simple: when you give a student a break, they're more likely to engage in school projects if they feels like a part of their break, so not only does letting students design their own projects provide quality, but quantity. Here's an example which fits perfectly with what I'm saying: I walked into my History of the Americas class at the beginning of the year, and many of my peers who were top students had not finished reading the books they were assigned during the summer and fudged the details on the accompanying paper. When listening to them, the most common remarks were about how dry and uninteresting the prescribed book list was and how having to do it in the summer was an annoyance that they just wanted to put off. Meanwhile, most student-designed projects I know of provide much better learning and motivation. The biggest example I've in my mind when writing this is my experience with the I'm in the IB program, where students are required to complete an

Extended Essay, a 16 - 20 page paper on a subject of your choice. Because I can do mine on the physics and mathematics of a diabolo (similar to a yo-yo), and I spend a lot of my free time invested in this object anyway, I've never looked forwards to a project so much in my life (not to mention I love math and problem solving)! I started last summer by doing some experiments, and have since been leaning towards the math side to discover new math (like the calculus in a Lagrangian) and push myself, actually using what I've learned in school. The opportunity for involvement and motivation offered by student-designed projects (especially during the summer) is great enough that I believe it would be worth it for teachers to adopt in place of more traditional assignments.

Some people say summer projects have to support the student for the rigor of the following school year, and that student designed projects will not demand the same skills needed to prepare them for the next year. Therefore, teachers instead of students should make summer assignments. But to the contrary, a large body of evidence supports that with minimal guidance from the teacher over the summer, taking longer breaks from hard and tiresome work isn't that detrimental for your learning. While I realize that student-designed projects may fall short in providing the work ethic needed for the following year, I don't think that's the point of summer work. The point is that you take a long break to refresh you for the next year so you don't burnout (e. g. senioritis). Furthermore, most people figure out how to keep up with the workload by the end of the following year anyways. And, even if students make it slightly easier, it is still reflective the curriculum - and in the long run it's that knowledge that matters, especially later in life. Likewise, if students can put it off for a month or so, that isn't really a bad thing. Spacing, or leaving what learning and then coming back to it right when you're almost forgetting it, is one of the most scientifically backed learning techniques we know of. In one study, students were asked to memorize words in Spanish, but split into multiple groups. As compared to the control of 8 hours of straight studying, the group that studied four hours, then four hours an entire month later, did over twice as well on a test of that vocabulary after the study. Because of the clear benefits of avoiding burnout and spacing, it's best if students take advantage of the freedom how they feel, so long as they engage with something .

Student-designed projects that can spark student's creativity also help teachers, since it's much easier and safer for them just to let a student create it themselves. Sure, there is a chance the teacher might get it right, but it's not guaranteed. And finally, there's nothing to lose. Yes, kids might cram it in the week before break ends, but remember that most kids already do that. It's fair to say that student-designed projects are a win for learning, creativity, teachers, and students alike that we're missing out on.

Student-designed projects both prepare students better for the next year while helping them consolidate what they've learned previously better than most teacher made assignment ever could, with few exceptions. So, while I don't think that student-designed projects are the key to perfect learning, but they are definitely a part of it. 